Decluttering the printing surface

A bit messy, hmmm…

I thought I’d share a few pics of my workroom. This is what my printing table normally looks like. As though an art supply shop had vomited all over it. With some haberdashery chucked in for good measure.

Too much, too much!

Every so often I have to have a good clear out or it gets too much to create anything there, it seems to mess up my head as well.

Nice and clear on top, just don’t look underneath!!

One afternoon I decided to clear everything off and put the dropcloth in the washing machine. This is what the print table looks like underneath all that clutter. Wow, wish it looked like this all the time!

A diagonal view

I have a large piece of MDF laid on top of the table, and a piece of carpet underlay over that, which creates the soft surface for printing.

The dropcloth is a heavy twill fabric

Here is the table with a clean dropcloth on top, bearing the dyeing marks from a previous printing session or ten!

Wish I could say it still looks like that now, but unfortunately it is more like the top photo again… that clean table top lasted less than a day. But it definitely unleashed some creativity…

4 Replies to “Decluttering the printing surface”

You make me feel slightly better about my work space…only slightly! 😉 I too find too much clutter starts to stifle & a good clean-up conducive to clearing one’s creative mind as well. So what wonders will we see from you next?

Hi Sheila, I’m working on pattern design mostly – if you look on the right sidebar there’s a link to my Spoonflower shop which I’ll be blogging about soon – I’ve sent off for swatches which is the precursor to offering the designs for sale. And I’m doing more painting… have been working on putting things in repeat which is very frustrating but hopefully will become second nature with practice!

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Hello. My name's Liz Plummer and I'm an artist based in Newport, South Wales, UK, I love dyeing, printing, painting and stitching.
This blog is about the influences on my work, inspiration, my daily life,
and the processes of creating. Enjoy!